Do you want a plan for reading through your Bible this year? Here are six different options.
Shortly after we were married, I horrified my husband with my free-spirited approach to reading the Bible.
"What did you read in your devotions today?" he asked one morning.
"I finished Romans," I told him. We had a great conversation about what we had read and learned.
The next day, he asked again: "What did you read in your Bible this morning?"
"I started Jeremiah," I replied, cheerfully.
Stunned silence.
My husband cannot fathom a person who reads their Bible out of order.
Each and every year, since I have known him, he has read through his Bible. In order. Genesis to Revelation. Or maybe Chronological order. Or one of those plans where you read a passage from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. He has read the McCheyne Bible Reading Plan. Twice he has read the Greek New Testament. He even spent one year reading the Amplified Bible. (He jokes that he read his Bible one and a half times that year.)
But never since he has been a grown man has he considered bouncing around the Bible randomly. Me? I was the ball in the pinball machine.
Now, please don't misunderstand. I loved reading my Bible. I read it faithfully. I just didn't love reading Jeremiah and Ezekiel back to back. Or Leviticus and Numbers. I liked breaking it up by reading something else in order to keep on swimming through. Catch a breather in the Psalms, for instance. Then hold my nose and dive back into the deep end of the major prophets.
So for several years he looked at me with fond discomfort in his eyes when I shared with him my unconventional devotional tactics. He was very glad I was reading my Bible, of course. Just a little perturbed about my way of doing it.
But then something happened.
One year, I finally decided to join those faithful souls who systematically read through their entire Bible in one year. With a plan.
The result?
I fell deeper in love with my Bible.
I saw new vistas. I noticed new details. I made new connections. There is an amazing blessing to reading through the Bible systematically.
This new way of reading my Bible initiated a time of real spiritual growth growth in my life. In fact, I have been so blessed by the results of reading through my Bible in a year, in a systematic way, that I now wholeheartedly encourage others to do the same thing. It is a wonderful thing. If you haven't tried it yet, you absolutely should start doing it right now.
Here are five different options for Bible Reading Plans:
That gives us six different options for using a plan to read through our Bibles this year. If none of these six options suit you, pick a different plan. Search the internet. There are literally dozens of options. If you have a favorite reading plan that I did not include, please do us all a favor and link to it in the comments below!
Whatever the case, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly this year.
"What did you read in your devotions today?" he asked one morning.
"I finished Romans," I told him. We had a great conversation about what we had read and learned.
The next day, he asked again: "What did you read in your Bible this morning?"
"I started Jeremiah," I replied, cheerfully.
Stunned silence.
My husband cannot fathom a person who reads their Bible out of order.
Each and every year, since I have known him, he has read through his Bible. In order. Genesis to Revelation. Or maybe Chronological order. Or one of those plans where you read a passage from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. He has read the McCheyne Bible Reading Plan. Twice he has read the Greek New Testament. He even spent one year reading the Amplified Bible. (He jokes that he read his Bible one and a half times that year.)
But never since he has been a grown man has he considered bouncing around the Bible randomly. Me? I was the ball in the pinball machine.
Now, please don't misunderstand. I loved reading my Bible. I read it faithfully. I just didn't love reading Jeremiah and Ezekiel back to back. Or Leviticus and Numbers. I liked breaking it up by reading something else in order to keep on swimming through. Catch a breather in the Psalms, for instance. Then hold my nose and dive back into the deep end of the major prophets.
So for several years he looked at me with fond discomfort in his eyes when I shared with him my unconventional devotional tactics. He was very glad I was reading my Bible, of course. Just a little perturbed about my way of doing it.
But then something happened.
One year, I finally decided to join those faithful souls who systematically read through their entire Bible in one year. With a plan.
The result?
I fell deeper in love with my Bible.
I saw new vistas. I noticed new details. I made new connections. There is an amazing blessing to reading through the Bible systematically.
This new way of reading my Bible initiated a time of real spiritual growth growth in my life. In fact, I have been so blessed by the results of reading through my Bible in a year, in a systematic way, that I now wholeheartedly encourage others to do the same thing. It is a wonderful thing. If you haven't tried it yet, you absolutely should start doing it right now.
Here are five different options for Bible Reading Plans:
- A Basic One Year Bible Reading Plan (Genesis to Revelation.)
- A Bible Chapter Check-Off Sheet (If you are a pinball, this will ensure you make it through the entire Bible.)
- A Five-Day-A-Week Chronological Reading Plan (Leaves 2 days a week for other reading or study.)
- Robert Murray McCheyne's Bible Reading Calendar (Includes admonitions and tips for reading.)
- A One Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan
- The 90 Day Bible Reading Plan (Read your Bible four times a year with this plan.)
That gives us six different options for using a plan to read through our Bibles this year. If none of these six options suit you, pick a different plan. Search the internet. There are literally dozens of options. If you have a favorite reading plan that I did not include, please do us all a favor and link to it in the comments below!
Whatever the case, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly this year.
PS--In my next post I will share which of these reading plans I am using this year that I am really excited about.
